Friday, December 16, 2005 Statement of Congressman Van Hollen on Iraq Resolution Washington, D.C. - Mr. Speaker, today the leadership of this House has failed both the American people and the people of Iraq. Today our country had a tremendous opportunity to stand united and join together in congratulating the Iraqi people on their elections for the first full term National Assembly.  We had a chance to send a shared message of gratitude to our troops and their families who have sacrificed so much.  Instead, the Republican leadership chose the politics of division over unity of purpose.  In a reprehensible act of blatant partisanship, they squandered a special opportunity to send a strong message and cynically exploited our troops for political gain. Today, Congressman Lantos offered us an opportunity to stand together by introducing a resolution that congratulates the people of Iraq on the recent election and expresses our thanks to the men and women of our armed forces who are serving there.  That resolution would have received a unanimous vote in this House.  But the Republican leadership did not want a unanimous vote in support of our troops and the people of Iraq. They denied us the opportunity to cast a vote on the Lantos resolution.  The hypocrisy of their action should not be lost on the American people.  At a time when we all want to celebrate the right of the Iraqi people to vote in Iraq, the Republican leadership denied this House the right to vote on the unifying resolution offered by Mr. Lantos.  And the very people who tell us each day that our nation should speak with one voice on Iraq crafted a resolution that was deliberately designed to splinter the members of this House. The American people can respect genuine differences of opinion on the best way to move forward in Iraq.   We should have a healthy debate about the best way to bring our troops home.  Questions of war and peace are matters of conscience. When so many American and Iraqi lives hang in the balance, each of us has a responsibility to exercise our best judgment.  What is so disappointing about the actions of the Republican leadership today is that it chose to turn an opportunity for bipartisanship into a political ploy.  It demonstrated a smallness of mind that placed politics over the national interest. I have never before voted "present" on a resolution in the House.  I hope I do not feel compelled to do so again in the future. But there are times we have an obligation to send a message that we reject the politics of cynicism.  The Republican resolution is less about achieving victory in Iraq than victory at the polls in 2006.  We must refuse to participate in a political charade.  There are few things in politics as despicable as using our troops and the democratic aspirations of the people of Iraq as pawns in a political game.  Today's action by the Republican leadership has brought shame upon this House. It is time to put the national interest above political posturing.